(MONEY Magazine) – What do you call a drug company on Viagra? Pfizer, of course.

This drugmaker's got a product lineup that just won't quit: eight blockbusters in all, including Viagra, that last year racked up over $1 billion in sales apiece. Thanks to this chart-topping portfolio, Pfizer's earnings are rising 25% a year, faster than those of any other major pharmaceutical maker in the world.

But Pfizer's pharma karma isn't all good. So-so revenue growth of 8% in 2000 has scared investors, and the stock is down 20% from its 52-week high. Also troublesome are threats to some of its biggest drugs, particularly cholesterol-reducer Lipitor, which alone accounted for 21% ($5 billion) of Pfizer's pharmaceutical sales.

Not to worry, says chief executive Henry "Hank" McKinnell. A stately Canadian and a Pfizer lifer--he joined the company in 1971 fresh out of graduate business school--McKinnell's most recent accomplishment was presiding over last year's $84 billion merger with Warner-Lambert.

Over a cup of vegetable soup, McKinnell spoke with MONEY's Lisa Gibbs in his 23rd-floor Manhattan quarters. On the day they talked, March 20, rival AstraZeneca released a study showing that patients treated with its new drug Crestor achieved lower cholesterol levels than those treated with Pfizer's Lipitor.

Q. How do you protect a blockbuster product like Lipitor from competition like Crestor?

A. We're building a very large wall, brick by brick, of clinical studies supporting the efficacy and toleration of Lipitor. The most recent study showed a very rapid, significant reduction in recurrence in patients being discharged from a hospital following heart attack who were given Lipitor. And Crestor won't have that data. They won't be able to show the effect on morbidity and mortality, which is what really matters.

Q. What's your share of the market for cholesterol-lowering products?

A. The total market probably is in excess of $10 billion, and we have well over 40% and growing. The market itself is growing about 20%. So we're gaining share in a growing market.

Q. What's the state of Pfizer's pipeline?

A. We're looking for two to three product approvals a year, and we certainly have the raw material to achieve that. This week we launched Geodon, which is a major advance in the treatment of schizophrenia. There are three others in registration awaiting approval, four to be filed next year and 156 ongoing programs in total. Our pipeline now is far stronger than it's ever been. I'd say it's the best in the industry.

Q. Actually, analysts think Eli Lilly has the better pipeline.

A. I wouldn't say that. What also matters is what's in your current business, and some companies have products going off patent--we have almost none. And most of our business, 75%, is made up of recently launched products that are growing very rapidly, and we're adding new uses and new dosages and launching in new countries outside the U.S.

Q. Is part of the trick to leverage the drugs you have?

A. The trick, if there is one, is to meet unmet medical needs. One of the things we're working on is a Norvasc-Lipitor combo. We know that there are about 60 million Americans with hypertension and probably 50 million with elevated lipids. The population that has both problems and is not being treated for both is, I think, 30 million people.

Q. Why was revenue growth last year below expectations?

A. What confused the revenue growth picture last year, No. 1, was the withdrawal of [diabetes medicine] Rezulin, which we were selling throughout '99 and then we weren't selling for three quarters in 2000. Trovan [an antibiotic] was similar. And then there was quite a negative impact on revenue growth from foreign exchange. When you pulled all that out, our pharmaceutical business actually had an outstanding year--it was up 18%. The underlying business was very strong, and that's continuing into this year.

Q. How would you assess the progress of the Warner-Lambert merger?

A. We promised Wall Street $200 million in cost savings, and we achieved $400 million. We thought this year would be $1 billion, and we're probably going to be over $1.2 billion. By the third year we're looking for $1.6 billion, and it's pretty clear it's going to be greater than that. The more important issue is on the revenue side, where operating as one company, we've gained market share.

Q. I was surprised that you own Chiclets.

A. And Bubblicious. Most of those consumer businesses came from Warner-Lambert. Plus we've got Listerine and Schick shaving products.

Q. I can't imagine that you see Chiclets as part of your long-term strategic plan.

A. We didn't do this acquisition for diversification. Because of merger accounting rules, we can't actually sell anything for a two-year period. We're looking at alternatives, and we'll make a decision probably next year. But one thing is true: These are good businesses that are growing rapidly. Some of them will stay part of Pfizer; we just don't know which ones yet.